I have recently been watching the ABC’s Don’t Stop The Music. It has been amazing watching the children’s transformations in such a short period of time. Children who would not normally ask questions now have confidence to do so. Students who wouldn’t normally push themselves are learning that hard work really does pay off. Having them all come together to play music as a team, listening to and in staying in time with each other, is such an amazing outcome for these kids.
As a music teacher, I get to see these transformations in children’s lives all the time. I know that music education is a key that helps children, even the very young, to form pathways in the brain that can help a child grow academically, socially and musically. Below are 4 reasons why, consistently participation in a variety of music-making experiences are important for young children, and babies.
1. Shared musical experiences may help children with numeracy and literacy.
The Mind Institute is studying the impact of music on human intelligence. Their studies are showing that students with musical training improve spatial reasoning, which results in better problem-solving and mathematic skills.
A University of Queensland study also shows that shared music-making has a greater impact on learning to speak and read than just reading aloud to your child.
2. Music-making strengthens your child’s auditory perception.
Developing good auditory perception is essential to language development. The MAARs Institute has discovered that learning and participating in music-making is one of the only ways to develop the ear so that it can hear and discriminate between pitches, rhythms and tones. All these skills are necessary to learn words, speak sentences and understand the meaning of spoken and written language. Children who are surrounded by musical experiences from a young age learn to speak earlier than those who do not.
3. Singing with your child strengthens their social bonds.
Young babies who are sung to in the womb and after birth are more easily settled and respond quicker to their caregiver’s voice. Continuing to sing to a child after they are born, especially using folk and cultural songs, provides them with a rich cultural context from which to draw their identity.
4. Early music education prepares children for successful instrumental lessons.
Children who have had at least one year of early childhood music lessons that are supported at home and which include learning musical symbols, playing musical instruments and singing, find learning an instrument to be an easier experience and progress faster than those who have had no prior music lessons.
Knowing that music education is such an important aspect of early child development, I would like to invite you to join me for a personal introductory lesson. This lesson is complimentary and will provide you with a great firsthand insight into the benefits that music education has for your child.
